Bicycle carriers are well known and very popular for cyclists and sports enthusiasts. Oftentimes it is of interest to ride in particular areas that are far from home, and thus transporting a bicycle becomes necessary. Accordingly, trunk and hitch mounted bicycle carriers have been employed for this purpose as they are generally easily to install and use.
Generally a bicycle rack will have some apparatus for attachment to a vehicle, either through a hitch or attachment to the trunk. Besides having a portion for attachment to a vehicle, there will also be load bearing arms onto which one can place a bicycle. Additionally, these load bearing arms generally have “cradles” installed thereon. Cradles generally have a softer material and directly receive the tubes of the bicycle when bicycles are installed. Such cradles aid in holding the bicycles on the load bearing arms. Furthermore, straps are employed on the arms or cradle to secure the bicycle onto the cradles.
In the past, bicycle racks have suffered from drawbacks such as not facilitating ease of use, for example attachment to a trunk of a vehicle, or folding and unfolding of the rack, attachment of anti-sway devices or adjustment for placing a bicycle therein.